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The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity triggered by a embargo on fuel imports implemented by militant groups.

The Education Minister declared on state television that all learning centers would remain closed until 9 November, noting that the movement of personnel and pupils had been affected by the restrictions.

He emphasized that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the emergency so that classes could continue on the tenth of November.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a petrol crisis, particularly in the administrative center, after armed groups from an jihadist network imposed a restriction by attacking transport vehicles on primary roads.

The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are transported by truck from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Long queues have been winding around gas pumps in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had in recent days reassured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has persisted.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in the capital announced that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would leave Mali amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and increasing protection worries.

It explained that the energy interruptions had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.

Mali is now led by a army council under the leadership of General Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in 2021.

The junta had popular support when it came to authority, committing to address the ongoing instability prompted by a autonomy movement in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been sent in previously to combat the increasing militant activity.

Both have departed since the military assumed power, and the current administration has hired foreign fighters to tackle the insecurity.

However, the militant uprising has persisted and extensive regions of the north and east of the nation remain outside government control.